Thursday, October 26, 2006

I brought it on myself, I suppose. Yesterday afternoon I got it in my head that I wanted... nay, needed... a special something for my Halloween graveyard (construction has begun on this year's backyard neighborhood monster bash - more on that in another blog). Anyway, I went to my favorite discount store: nada. I went to my second favorite discount store: still nothing. On impulse, I stopped in a store I don't normally go to, just on the off chance they'd have exactly what I need.

Sometimes you get lucky.

This was not the day.

I did a quick run-through, scoping the aisles for already discounted Halloween decorations and various odds and ends that could be used for the fortune-teller's den, the wicked witch's hut, etc. Disappointed in my search, I was headed back toward the door, ready to leave the store, when I saw it: a long table full of Halloween markdowns, just waiting for me. Come to mama, baby. :)

So I'm pawing through cute little candy dishes and candleholders and various Halloween crafts, etc., when I see this really cool witch's broom leaning against the wall. It's all gnarly and authentic looking, except for some ribbon that could be easily removed, and best of all: it's on sale! I reach out to pick it up, and notice that right where anyone's hand would naturally go, there's an extremely realistic wooden cockroach glued to the handle. Yucky, but I can't help but think: Nice touch.

It's so realistic, though, that I lean in to check it out. Wow, I think, somebody went to a lot of trouble... that ugly little sucker looks like the genuine article. My hand is inches away, and so's my face. Coward that I am (I despise cockroaches, I blew on the bug.

And it moved.

Thank goodness there was nobody near me, or they'd have been mowed down by one seriously freaked-out woman. I was ready to bolt, but I made myself go find a manager, pointed out the bug, and left while he was preparing to take care of it.

I'll never set foot in that store again, and as for the candy on that discount table... eeewwwww.

Come To The Dark Side... we have cookies!

I'm an author who writes romantically spooky tales about life among the undead. Call it Urban Fantasy or call it Paranormal Romance, my books are about devils, demons, ghosts, and other things that go bump in the night.